Canary Capital CEO Steven McClurg stated he expects BlackRock may enter the spot XRP ETF race as quickly as late 2026, framing it as a demand-led determination relatively than a sudden shift in conviction from the world’s largest asset supervisor.
Talking in a Jan. 27 interview with Crypto Sensei, McClurg argued that the market is already shifting in that route as extra legacy ETF issuers check the perimeter of non-Bitcoin merchandise.
BlackRock Might Be a part of XRP ETF Race By Finish Of 2026
“It wouldn’t shock me if BlackRock recordsdata for a XRP, doubtlessly Solana ETF someday by the top of 2026 or 2027,” he stated. “I imply you’ve already bought Constancy, you’ve already bought Franklin Templeton within the race there. So it’s not going to be a complete lot longer earlier than BlackRock. Aso […] Invesco simply filed for a Solana ETF. Give it time. XRP will probably be there as nicely.”
McClurg described the ETF playbook as simple: issuers comply with consumer demand and liquid market construction, then increase product cabinets as soon as the industrial case is obvious. “I feel it has to do with a number of capabilities. They need to see demand. They need to see excessive market cap and it’ll get there finally,” he stated, suggesting that XRP’s pathway to a BlackRock submitting is much less about narratives and extra about sustained investor pull.
That framework additionally matches how he says Canary thinks about filings. Requested how a lot product growth is pushed by consumer demand versus the agency’s personal views, McClurg was blunt: “It’s extremely weighted in the direction of the place we consider demand is.” He added that Canary will sometimes “take a few dangers” on earlier-stage tokens, citing Axelar as a submitting that was finally not launched amid weaker demand and drawdowns.
McClurg’s feedback got here with a wider thesis about the place institutional consideration is shifting. He stated many pension funds and sovereign wealth traders are approaching Bitcoin as an allocation akin to gold, however that conversations round Ethereum usually stall. “The dialog we’re having with Ethereum is that’s previous expertise, I need what’s subsequent,” he stated, including that some establishments “simply go on Ethereum,” pointing to a view that open-source code may be replicated inside personal networks.
Against this, he stated establishments are more and more targeted on networks he described as “very low-cost and environment friendly to run,” naming XRP Ledger, Hedera, and Solana, alongside “opponents to Solana” resembling Injective. The core pitch, in his telling, is operational: decrease prices, larger throughput, and a clearer line from community utility to enterprise deployment.
On US financial institution adoption, McClurg predicted banks will associate with particular crypto protocols relatively than converge on a single rail, with Ripple “first,” Hedera “second,” and Solana “a far third” by way of being “dug into the monetary system.” He additionally singled out Ripple’s stablecoin RLUSD as a possible breakout, saying, “I see that factor exploding” as soon as built-in with associate rails, and even floated that RLUSD “may surpass USDC.”
McClurg tied a lot of the timing, ETFs included, to regulatory readability. “I don’t actually care what’s within the invoice. I simply need to know what I can and may’t do,” he stated, referring to the Readability Act debate. “And as soon as I do know what I can and may’t do, I can go generate profits […] simply inform me the principles in order that I can exit and run my enterprise and never should look over my shoulder.”
At press time, XRP traded at $1.75.
Featured picture created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Editorial Course of for bitcoinist is centered on delivering totally researched, correct, and unbiased content material. We uphold strict sourcing requirements, and every web page undergoes diligent overview by our staff of high expertise specialists and seasoned editors. This course of ensures the integrity, relevance, and worth of our content material for our readers.
